This is a card that does not seem to have the same emotive / pulling on heartstrings we often see depicted on the 8 of cups.
Maybe that is due to the fact there is an absence of water. Instead we have a contraption of sorts as the largest and most prominant aspect of the card. Barbara describes it as an astrolabe. On arms coming out of the sides of the contraption we see 8 arms extended. Yet only 7 have chalices shown on them.
I have no idea why, but it is bugging me as to where the 8th could be. I even looked at the b/w enlarged image in the book and am still scratching my head on that one. The woman is dressed in flying attire, with the stereotypical leather bomber jacket and furred neckline as well as the goggles on her head.

She is walking away from the astrolabe towrads the right (to the future?) of the card but is not really focussed or looking in that direction. I llike how there are some mathematical drawings and forumla in the air above the whole scene, including the square root of infinity.

So what does this mean? Well, it may well be one of those cards where we do tend to lean more on how we as individuals give standard key phrases, as there is not a lot of movement or emotion in the image to go on.

Maybe the square root could be key. She was hoping for so much, yet the offerings from the machine have fallen short. Maybe she is heading to new pastures to find a new challenge or excitement. Makes me think though: the grass is not always greener and if we do set out sights THAT high, it is always likely to end in disappointment.

Not my favourite card of the deck but will be one that causes me to be frustrated. I know I will always be looking for something that is not there. Maybe that is the message I should be taking away. Our search for perfection is likely to last eternity, as it is hard to quantify what perfection is. Even if we do find it, it is likely to be liquid and not solid, and therefore ever changing or morphing.

I found it! The missing coup is the contraption itself, the center pillar. If you look carefully it has the base of a cup and the upper part, where the arms are getting out from, is the upper part of the cup, the part to be filled. For me this image is more like a 9 of cups and it's also not my favorite. I am learning Tarot with this deck because this deck "picked me", I'm becoming more and more familiar with it, but this card is one of the ones giving me most trouble. Now I'll remember this post and that'll help!

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